Conciliation service Acas has published its latest policy paper on the reform of the employment tribunal system.

The policy assesses the impact that the 2004 dispute resolution reforms are having on employment tribunal claims and raises concerns about the increasing complexity of the tribunal process.

The New Rules, New Challenges paper states that the most effective way of reducing the number of employment tribunal cases is by fostering better solutions for employment relations in the workplace. More company resources should be targeted on dispute prevention, including mediation services, the paper argues.

John Taylor, Acas chief executive, said: “Acas helps to settle three-quarters of individual workplace disputes before they go down the much more costly and stressful route of a full tribunal hearing. Prevention is much better than cure in building good employee relations.”

Taylor said there were still a number of improvements that could be made to the employment tribunal process.

“Britain’s employment tribunal system may offer a preferable alternative to the more legalistic approaches in some other European countries, but there is still room for improvement,” he said.